With its mixture of mythology and progress, Fabe Memorial is one of the most fascinating work of art of the Monumental Cemetery of Milan. Naked like the gods of Olympus, a young aviator holds a propeller on his left shoulder, while he is seized by the tentacled serpentine hair of Medusa’s head, an extraordinary statuesque reinterpretation of Caravaggio’s painting. The epigraph of Gabriele D’Annunzio is engraved in golden letters on the base: “He doesn’t run but flies, he doesn’t fall but gets up”. Umberto Fabe (1918-1941) was a sergeant major in the air force during WW2. He died in 1941, at the young age of 23, due to a plane crash. Sculptor Enrico Pancera (1882-1971) signed the work. His compositions often refer to Greek mythology, but the references are never ends in themselves and always find a symbolic correspondence with the present. More info at the Monumental Cemetery Website
CC AttributionCreative Commons Attribution
Comments